Introducing Devron's 'The Vanguard' Condominiums in Thornhill

Plans are in motion to replace the two-storey Grandview Plaza at 7089 Yonge Street in Thornhill with a new high-rise condominium by Devron Developments. Occupying the east side of Yonge on between Woodward and Grandview Avenues, The Vanguard would rise 25 storeys and feature 12,000 square feet of retail space fronting on Yonge, office suites on the second floor, and condominiums above that range in size from 522 to 1,379 square feet.

Devron's plan for The Vanguard is not to create a building that will appeal as a place to spend only a few years, but to build one that residents will be proud to call home in the long term. With that in mind, a proportionately higher percentage of suites at The Vanguard will be multi-bedroom units, while the suites themselves will be both larger than most, and finished to a higher quality.

Meanwhile, the development's traditionally-inspired architectural expression by Kirkor Architects Planners eschews the all-glass architecture of most residential towers we see today for a limestone and pre-cast exterior envelope with two-tone glazing. “The design of the building seamlessly integrates every element of a great neighbourhood into a single structure." said Cliff Korman, founding partner of Kirkor Architects and Planners. "Every amenity extends living space and connects residents to the community that exists inside and outside of The Vanguard.”

The Vanguard, image courtesy of Devron Developments

The Vanguard's amenity spaces will appointed by II BY IV Design, including a theatre room, a library, several multi-purpose spaces, and a children's play room that includes a sculptural element and 3D tree designed for play. The development will also offer residents a 7,000 square foot outdoor terrace featuring community gardens, an outdoor culinary center, dining space, an open lawn, and a screen of trees to provide privacy, all with landscaping by Strybos Barron King.

The development will employ a number of green features to improve overall energy efficiency, including a centralized water filtration system, as well as a fitness facility with exercise bikes that feed electricity back into the power grid. Tesla Destination Chargers will be included on the ground floor,—the first implementation of such technology in the GTA— as well as six additional EV chargers for different makes of electric vehicles. The Vanguard is targeting LEED Gold certification.

“Not only will the chargers add great value for our residents long term as consumers move to embrace electric vehicles, but Tesla’s commitment to quality, future mindedness and its leadership in sustainability are traits that we admire and share,” explained Pouyan Safapour, Chief Operations Officer at Devron Developments, who has a background in the fields structural engineering and sustainable design.

A closer look at the retail area, image courtesy of Devron Developments

The development site is bordered to the east by an established low-rise Grandview neighbourhood, and the developers have come up with a novel approach to creating a buffer between the high-rise tower and low-rise housing. As part of the redevelopment, the Grandview neighbourhood will get a new public park placed between the tower and the adjacent residential community.

“We want to be a catalyst for both the Grandview neighbourhood and Yonge Street,” said Pouyan Safapour. “With the city planning for more density in the corridor, we saw an opportunity to shift the high-rise paradigm for this neighbourhood, to inject a new language of design that reflects the principles of the community and tells purchasers this is a place they can be proud to call home.”

Aerial view of the development site, facing northeast, image retrieved from Apple Maps

We will be sure to return with updates as additional details about this new development emerge. In the meantime, additional information can be found in our dataBase file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.